China’s plan to create a brand new city for at least 2.5 million people a couple hours south of Beijing received its first state funding yesterday.
The $19 billion loan from state-owned China Development Bank begins the process of turning farmland in Hebei province into the “green, livable and modern urban area” the government envisions.
The money spent on infrastructure and relocation services for Xiongan may top $290 billion in 15 years, Morgan Stanley predicts, and the new city is expected to receive every penny: President Xi Jinping himself has publicly backed the idea as a way to usher in innovative companies and universities into to the area some 60 miles from Beijing.
